Outdated office buildings and stagnant growth have hampered real estate activity in downtown Dallas. Ashford Hospitality Trust Chairman Monty Bennett, meanwhile, said he is steering clear of the city’s core for a different reason.
Bennett, who’s also publisher of the Dallas Express, said he wants to relocate his real estate firm’s office from the Far North Dallas Galleria area to downtown, but cited worries about public safety as a deterrent, at a Downtown Dallas Inc. meeting on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Bennett stressed the need “to improve what’s going on downtown” through enhanced security and safety.
His comments, made during a meeting that included the election of new board members and the honoring of former A.H. Belo CEO Robert W. Decherd for his contributions to downtown green spaces, raised eyebrows among attendees.
“I think the past few years have been tough,” Bennett said. “We have an opportunity … to take our place among the greatest cities in the country or the world. Or, at this inflection point, it could very well descend into what other American cities have become, unfortunately.”
His remarks echoed those of Dallas Express readers, who have reportedly criticized the city’s police protection and management of homelessness.
Bennett’s disparagement of downtown wasn’t necessarily based on public safety data.
Violent crime rates in downtown are relatively low and decreasing, Downtown Dallas Inc. president Jennifer Scripps said. She encouraged Bennett to further consider relocating Ashford to the central business district, emphasizing the nonprofit’s commitment to public safety.
Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller pushed back on Bennett’s comments, highlighting the significant progress made in enhancing downtown safety and vibrancy over the past 20 years. The number of downtown residents has increased from about 600 to 15,000 since she took office in 2002, and successful large-scale events are evidence of downtown’s revitalization, she said.
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Meanwhile, Bennett’s Ashford Hospitality Trust is dealing with financial problems.
It has been working to offload a number of distressed hospitality assets to remedy its troubles. The firm, which owns 100 hotels nationwide and seven in Dallas-Fort Worth, revealed in July that it had missed loan payments on 19 hotels, with plans to surrender them to lenders. As of November, it has extended mortgages for 17 other hotels.
—Quinn Donoghue